One of those nights….again !!! Wtf..??

Written by SharkeySure

Most Arsenal fans don’t really like the ‘R’ word, but accept it as a necessary evil when the games come this thick and this fast. We’d all lauded the herculean efforts of our heroes only 48hrs earlier and knew that changes were afoot for the trip to the Sports Shop that is Wigans home ground. It was just a question of how many, who and where.

The big plus from Monday was the sheer energy and passion of the team, we’d all hoped to see more of the same last night but were left disappointed.

The first ten mins were all Wigan, then we seemed to settle down a bit, but still looked wholly pedestrian. There hardly seemed to be a player in a yellow shirt capable of either controlling a ball or passing it to another guy in a yellow shirt. Wigan were not much better, and the ball ping ponged back and forth. N’Zogbia who had looked threatening all evening went on a jinking run inside Eboue after being waved on by the lethargic Diaby. Insomnia was subjected to the lightest of challenges from Kozzer and over Charlie went. Replays showed a clear clear dive and that the non contact was outside the box. 1-0 Wigan.

My stream wobbled so I missed what caused Diaby to limp, and when it returned LJW had entered the fray. The difference was almost immediate, and our players all seemed to find the missing link at the same time. We started to retain possession and make inroads, whilst Wigan only occasionaly threatened. Bendtner got into a good shooting position and fired off a very good strike which was well saved by Al Habsi. The ball flew up high into the air and Arshavin (whilst falling backwards !) executed a perfect volley over his shoulder and into the bottom corner. Fantastic technique from our lazy little bast…oops, from our supremely talented little Russian.

Five mins later a clever run and pass from our TLR ™ set Bendtner clear and he finished with some aplomb. His touch and take to deceive the two Wigan defenders was almost masterful, a really top drawer finish from our Striking Viking. Up until then he’d been abject. Both him and Arshavin played as though they hadn’t even seen Mon’s game, let alone learnt anything from it, as we’d all hoped.

2nd half we continued to see LJW show why he is England’s only hope. Chamkah planted a very good header narrowly wide, and TLR missed a great chance for 3-1. With ten mins to go Wigan scored from a corner and Wonderman described it last night on AA as follows:

“3 errors a) Sagna loses his player which allows the player to head back across the goal b) Fabianski inexplicably leaves the centre of his goal c) Squillaci is caught again inexplicably on the wrong side of his opponent.” Complete madness and pretty much typical of us for quite a while now.

In the ten minutes that remain Nasri’s free kick is blatantly handballed, but our players hardly appeal for it. We try launching the ball long for the last few minutes to no avail.

No ratings, from me but I would single out Bendtner and Arshavin and give them both a 5, even with a goal and an assist each. Their lack of effort, really isn’t going to get us too far. In Bendy’s defence, once the team improved, so did he, but Arshavin really disappeared again 2nd half.

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169 Responses to One of those nights….again !!! Wtf..??

I’m still in a fury that AW should think that breaking up a team that was on fire on Monday night is a good way to build momentum for the squad :( He certainly has some strange ideas when it comes to man management :(

what did wenger do last night??
1st mistake: change whole team bar 2 outfield players in in the form of sagna and kozzer! (thats also because there was no other option to replace them!!) the 3rd player was fabianski btw! Looking at it, even Kozzer is not part of Arsenal’s first 11! So basically just sagna as the 1st team outfield player!
Now lets think Man Utd. Would they ever play their 2nd string 11 apart from VDS and rafael in a premier league match?? am sure even west ham or wolves or effing nottingham forest would screw em!! same with chelshit, Liverpool, Shitty, xxxxxxxx(the team i don like to mention) thats 1 mistake he did!

2nd mistake: playing chamakh and Bendty together! its already been witnessed, Chamakh plays waaay better as a lone forward rather than with a strike partner! Yet Wenger keeps on insisting playing Chamakh with another striker! Try to remember, when did Chamakh’s performances drop?? it was just after RvP recovered..thats when!!

3rd Mistake: Wenger knows (does he really know anymore??) that we have been vulnerable with 1 goal leads! He still failed to react in the 2nd half till Wigan equalised! Bring on Nasri or Theo in place of the highly ineffectual(for the night) Chamakh and keep the pressure on them! Instead what Wenger does is sit back and spectate the match!! And even when he made the change, he takes off Wilshere seemed like 1 of the few players on the night who could atleast do something in the opposition half!

4th Mistake: The choice of bringing on Walcott after they had equalised! How would that help arsenal?? Theo is a player who likes getting at the back of the defense or someone who is very useful in the counter attacks!! Wigan had already equalised and were gettin the result they wanted. Why would they attack? Why would they give us a chance to counter attack??? Theo against a packed defense is worse than Francis ‘fox in the box” Jeffers in the boxl!!!

So all these mistakes, one man responsible for them!!
i Say Wenger OUT!!!!

Last night was not a good one for our manager. I was too sick to watch any of the post match interviews so I don’t know what reasons he gave for his team selection or the quality of the performance.

Arguably Wigan away was as hard a game as the chavs at home on current form, so why play the A team at home and B team away ….. it still makes no sense to me. If he’d retained two of the midfielders from saturday and one of the attacking three I would have understood, but to replace the whole lot is inexplicable.

The only way I can find to justify the selection is by looking at the fixture list before the Chelsea game and accepting that with so many games having to be played in such a small period of time, rotation had to be the order of the day. This makes sense to me so long as it is viewed before the game…..after the game; well, everyone gets it right.
The bit that bugs me more is that around seventy minutes it looked obvious that Wigan were getting back in the game and changes were needed but yet again this is with hind-sight and everyone is the best manager in the world with the use of that visual aid.

Wigan LOL don’t we just love that name, Rocky I suggest you have a little lie down you sound rather stressed. Just think if we were not trophy hunting in the C. Cup we wouldn’t have such a fixture pile up this month and would not need therefore to rotate so much, aah but I forgot we haven’t won anything for five years and I expect you think that matters too.

Wenger has no choice but to rotate, which is why we have so large a squad, How many of those players yesterday were internationals, you might like to check.
WE dropped two points away from home and will drop more before the season is done as will all the other clubs it all makes for a great season, we will also probably get some dodgy decisions go our way, the team that holds its nerve the best will win.
As for Wenger Rocky, no doubt he will live to fight another day.

Birmingham next away and look what they did to Poor Sir Alex. its that time of the year folks.

We can all be clever with the benefit of hindsight its true, but why have Nasri and Theo warming up for 30 minutes and not use them when plainly they were needed on the pitch. Its those strange decisions that make my blood boil.

Peachy, I fear our manager is falling back into his old ways of not being proactive with subs – leaving it till 80+ minuters before he brings on the big guns when it was clear we were being over run beggars belief.

I’m more angry about last night than the loss to W brom and toon. In those games the players let the manager down, last night the manager let us all down. Changing 3 or 4 players is squad rotation, changing 8 is team destruction. We have more talented playmakers than anyone and yet e managed to produce a team with none.

Who is there in the staff who could have whispered in Arsene’s ear at 4 o-clock “are you sure it is a good idea to change so many players?”

It wasn’t rotation that cost us the points as the suicide brigade is continually whinging about. We were in a winning position and poor set piece defending cost us. So rotation had nothing to do with it.

Oh and agree about the ref, that dive from N’Zogbia was a joke. If it had been us there would have been a month long media campaign to fifa trying to get our player banned.

I can’t agree simon. There was no balance to team. There were no leaders on the pitch. We started without a playmaker. We were lucky to be 2:1 up at half time. The equaliser was inevitable as the front 3 did very little defending and poor old Eboue was continually out of position – because he was in the wrong position.

Or maybe not Simon, as I doubt that would have been given a penalty in the same situation.

I wholly agree with your first point. Here’s Wondermans full comment from last night on the goal: ” Wonderman says:
December 29, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Just seen their equaliser again 3 errors a) Sagna loses his player which allows the player to head back across the goal b) Fabianski inexplicably leaves the centre of his goal c) Squillaci is caught again inexplicably on the wrong side of his opponent.
It does’nt matter who is playing if you continue to make basic defnsive errors like that you will Always concede. We have let in 22 goals in 19 games. If we continue at this rate we will be in the 40′s by the end of the season. I dont do blame …I do performing the basics of your job”

we should have had another penalty earlier in the half too.
French site “L’equipe” says wigans penalty was a blatant dive and arsenal should have won their penalty appeal. seems like we have more support from the press in france than in england

what if the team had won,wil people have these sharp reactions.i understand the frustrations,i also feel it,but this team is prone to injuries,and burnout than any other epl team.but we have hurt our title push.need friends on facebook.search adedayo adeyemi akanbi

Everyone is naturally disappointed. All the above points are valid in their own right, except for the Wenger out nonsense.

Take a minute to consider what the reaction would have been if the ref/assistant had been a little more competent.

1) The Wigan “penalty” was for a foul outside the box. Kosser was the second player and was desperately trying, and succeeding, in not making contact after the initial foul.

2) The “penalty” that was not given when the Wigan player blocked Nasri’s freekick with his hand. Unbelievably poor decision.

The result of those two decisions, given by a poor ref, would, if reversed, have changed the scoreline from 2:2, into a winning 1:3 for Arsenal.

There is absolutely nothing any manager can do about poor refereeing decisions. Ask Ferguson about the Birmingham equaliser on Boxing Day.

This does not mean the comments above are wrong, indeed I agree with most of them.

a) Why so many changes from the Chelsea game?
b) Why Eboue at left back?
c) When will we get the defence we deserve, not the one that relies on average players like Squillaci?
d) When will Arsene realise that Fabianski will often cause us to lose goals? (look at the way he went walkabouts for their equaliser).

Dandan puts it nicely into perspective. Chamakh has dived frequently for pens this season so I wouldn’t hold it against Insomina doing the same for Wigan. Wilshere didn’t cover himself in glory either. Embarrassing that was to see an Englishman go down like that. Maybe he only looks after himself when protecting his mates outside clubs. Cock.

Morning RA – I waved my magic wand over your comment as Eboue played at left back ;)

Does Wenger need to go or do the board need to have a word in his shell-like and suggest that while he has done a fantastic job with limited resources, he has too much power and they’d feel more comfortable if he had a right-hand man to bounce ideas off/question his decisions?

Hi Irish – do you really think it was necessary to change 80% of the outfield players? Did any other team make the same kind of wholesale changes? He’s fluffing the issue, he had choices and elected to ‘rest’ too many players. One player who should not have played is Chamakh as he seems to have completely run out of steam, we’d have been better off with Vela or even better, Theo playing centrally

Hi Irish – was that in the post-match interview? No-one is in disagreement about rotating the squad its just the level of the changes, not enough planning, like he looked at Mondays team – looked at who was left and switched them around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wenger messed up. Four or five changes would have been good, eight was too many.
But with a couple of twists of fate we would have had three points. We would have got away with it.
All managers mess up. It’s time to move on.
Our first team showed on Monday that it can achieve great things. The parade of doom mongering and blame-laying on the back of an away draw in the north west is getting tiresome.

Well just back from the Dentists and to read our blog today is hilarious, So Rasp I’m an apologist am I, Peaches If we had defended a set piece correctly would you still be worrying about the changes,
I was tempted after reading the post Chelsea Blog to point out to one or two of you your pre Christmas postings around the Spuds time.
I expect looney’s like Ghost face to creep out of the woodwork, but other regulars should revisit their previous post at the above mentioned times in the Archives.
Wenger doesn’t plan really?. How many Of our bloggers are able to drop the emotional crap get real and think before pouring there disappointment out as scorn?
Give it a fortnight and you will be eulogising again, hells bells you are well OTT

I think if you ask most people they would have taken 4 points from the two games against Chelski and Wigan. To say that the manager was a genius after Monday night then say he should be sacked now is rather manic.

Dandan – it’s natural that people react emotionally in the immediate aftermath of games (whether brilliant results like Chavski or disasters like Spuds). It’s because we all care so passionately. Holding people to account for their comments ‘in the heat of the moment’ is a little harsh. I’ve certainly gone OTT (as you describe it) after certain results and then had a more measured response later when I have had a chance to think things through.

One of the nice things about this site is that a sense of balance and perspective is usually restored pretty quickly, thanks to the many wise comments from many wise people.

Sid, no-one regular on this site has called for AW to be sacked. We allow bloggers to come straight on and only edit when the content is objectionable.

On the other hand, it is perfectly acceptable to appreciate all that is good about our club and equally to express doubts when we get it wrong – that’s human nature and doesn’t necessarily make anybody a bad supporter.

emotions running high and quite understandably.8 changes was a risk too far.i take the point of 4 out of 6 points but this isn;’t aclf is it?

We could have been 2 or 3 nil down in the first 15 minutes and we get a corner and arshavin decides to rifle a low shot into the box with both bendtner and chamakh waiting for a high ball.
it’s a game we should never have drawn and i am being consistant when i keep saying that we can’t string 2 decent games together.
kos and squilli are average and prone to mistakes nearly every game and fab can’t command his area.hugely disappointed after the whole squad should have been up after monday.do you blame the players or mr.motivator.

Ghostfaces opening three lines were in themselves contradictory, yawn.

Different opinions fine, want a change of manager fine, abuse and denigration of our manager, well you can both go away and read the last nmonth of posts and comments on AA and see if you reaslly are onthe right site that ‘level of debate’.

Seriously, you’re both old enough to express yourselves a bit better than that.

Managers of any level need to be, objective and pragmatic certainly not emotive, especially when picking teams.
Therefor if you are to criticise the manager with hindsight shouldn’t you display the same qualities plus a little empathy.

I apologize if you feel looney was to fierce a comment and retract it, however a negative reaction at the earliest opportunity was I am sure you agree a forgone conclusion.

Again I say look at the fixture list over the next three weeks and tell me should Arsene weaken every team by resting players or use his managerial skills and expertise to target those he feels are appropriate.

I saw Arsene’s post match i/v and Irish has it right, but he was not apologetic and made the point the team last night was full of internationals.

He is right in saying that, and in his place, I would rather be criticised for doing what I thought was right, than doing what others wanted me to do, against my better judgement.

It went Pete Tong last night, but the real problem was not in what happened at Wigan, but in the recruitment policy (or lack thereof) regarding our defence, and I fear a similar result will occur again because of that weakness.

I listened to Frank McLintock being interviewed on the radio this morning, and he said that he was a big AW fan (like me) but he was puzzled by AW’s take on defensive play/players (like me), so I am in good company. :-)

I really don’t think that any of our regulars have overreacted to the game whatever their take on it has been. I certainly wouldn’t change anything I’ve written. I think there were too many changes and I posted that in a comment at half time when we were winning 2:1 – so I did not exercise the wisdom of hindsight.

But like most I don’t link any of that to the conclusion that we should change the manager – far from it. He is free to criticise my performance any time he likes and I reserve the same privilege in return :P

Tell me honestly, do you think (with the gift of hindsight) that changing 8 players was the right decision?

Obviously AW made the judgement and believed that the team he selected would be good enough to win – he does not have the gift of hindsight. What he does have is the experience of previous games and similar scenarios. I wouldn’t expect him for one moment to come out and say “it was my fault, I got it wrong”. That would be bad for him and bad for the team. But I do suspect that if he had a time machine, he would go back and do a couple of things differently because his gamble did not pay off.

Rocky – “Holding people to account for their comments ‘in the heat of the moment’ is a little harsh”

Can I respectfully disagree with that..?? I think we all need to stand and be judged by what we say. Of course we’re also allowed to explain and/or retract our comments. But too many people seem to ‘lose themselves’ and post things that they clearly cannot support. They should realise that at some time between typing and posting.

Rasp was pretty angry last night, but I don’t think his coments ever went over the top. He can certainly read them again today without any sense of embarassment I’d imagine.

Rasp, I didn’t say anyone was a bad supporter or that regulars called for the manager’s head. I was just making the point that perspective is needed. Saying ‘if we lose the league by one point people will look to this game’ is meaningless. What about Sunderland earlier this season. Could that be the game that loses us the league? I think judge the team after this run of Christmas games before Leeds in the cup.

Fair enough Sid. I like what you write and it’s good to have your company on AA. I think there are a lot of generalisations being sprayed around at the moment and certainly if you go round the blogs there is a huge degree of overreaction.

Arsène’s team selections for the next few games will be heavily scrutinised after yesterday. Winning the league is about accruing as many points as possible whatever the opposition, it is only rivalry that makes some games seem more important. In reality, 3 points is 3 points, and 3 points in the bag is better than the possibilty of 3 points in the next game.

Teams don’t win the Premiership, squads do! Our squad is probably the strongest, we just have to get the blend right in as many games as possible.

Goonermichael – as Rasp pointed out, I was quoting the Christmas Day post when we were second. And we’d be second in the table now if we were to win our game in hand over Citeh.
Regardless, the point remains.

Rasp – I agree with every word you have said on the subject of yesterday’s game. What disappointed me most was that by making so many changes we lost the opportunity to maintain the momentum of the Monday performance.

I accept that all the replacements who played against Wigan are experienced players with lots of first team time under their belts (so it wasn’t a case of throwing in callow youngsters). But they weren’t the ones who played so well against the Chavs…

Sharkey – fair point. It’s certainly ludicrous to start calling for Wenger Out after a bad game (but no regular on here does that anyway).
But my optimism about our season’s prospects can be dented in the wake of a bad ‘un (and therefore I comment accordingly). Then it slowly builds up again…
I suppose that although I am, overall, positive about our prospects I also have certain reservations about recurring flaws that could derail us (like bad defending at set pieces) and these loom larger after a disappointing performance. Perhaps I should heed your advice and not post anything for a couple of days after a bad one!

As comments are getting a little spicy, I thought I would give you one of my “tales” to lift the mood! :-) It filled my heart with Yuletide good cheer! :-)

There was a man who worked for the Post Office whose job was to process all the mail that had illegible addresses.

One day, a letter came addressed in a shaky handwriting to God, with no actual address. He thought he should open it to see what it was about.

The letter read:

Dear God,

I am an 83 year old widow, living on a very small pension.

Yesterday someone stole my purse. It had £100 in it, which was all the money I had until my next pension payment.

Next Sunday is Christmas, and I had invited two of my friends over for dinner. Without that money, I have nothing to buy food with, have no family to turn to, and you are my only hope … Can you please help me?

Sincerely, Edna

The postal worker was touched … so he showed the letter to all the other postal workers. Each one dug deep into his or her wallet and came up with a few pounds.

By the time he made the rounds of the offices, he had collected £96, which they put into an envelope and sent to the woman.

The rest of the day, all the workers felt a warm glow thinking of Edna and the festive dinner she would be able to share with her friends.

Christmas came and went.

A few days later, another letter came from the same old lady to God.

All the workers gathered around while the letter was opened.

It read:

Dear God,

How can I ever thank you enough for what you did for me?

Because of your gift of love, I was able to fix a glorious Xmas dinner for my friends. We had a very nice day and I told all my friends about your wonderful gift.

For me the manner of the defeat determines whether I feel angry or dejected.

An abject performance (Wigan away last season) engenders the former whereas being robbed or unlucky(fluke goal, idiotic referee) makes me feel a pride in defeat(like ManUre away least season) however whatever my feelings toward Wenger I make sure I don’t make it personal – I try to criticise his decisions, not him personally.

We have to realise that for all his strengths and weaknesses Wenger is just a man, who has a right to have failings but is equally open to be called out on them.

It just seems compared to our Invincibles era manager the present version is showing he has feet of clay more nowadays.

Different opinions fine, want a change of manager fine, abuse and denigration of our manager, well you can both go away and read the last nmonth of posts and comments on AA and see if you reaslly are onthe right site that ‘level of debate’.

Seriously, you’re both old enough to express yourselves a bit better than that.

———————–

Cant tell if youre saying really, or easily, so the irony of your last sentence is pretty hilarious.

Ghosty, I don’t agree with your view but it’s a legitimate one to hold.
But picking up on typos is a bit lame, and invites others to, for example, question what ‘discrete my post’ means…
I enjoyed your April post but, unlike you, I see an upward curve in what we’re capable of.

Anyone who predicts success, failure, mediocrity or meteor strike is likely to be proved correct sooner or later.

We are heading in the right direction undoubtedly. I hope we learn from yesterday’s result and move on now.

There are echoes of last season. Every time we have the opportunity to gain points against the other title contenders we seem to falter – and often against teams we should beat. The point I keep making is that every game, 3 points is the aim and other issues should take second place to that mission.

Ghosty, one other thing. I notice that on yesterday’s post you quoted a couple of lines from my post-Chelsea report and apparently found them hilarious:

“The ‘Arsene Out’ brigade really needs to take the blinkers off and look at the big picture of what is being built at our club.

Yesterday’s result showed that our young team is finally ready to claim its destiny.”
——————————–

Lmfao

Well, I stand by every word. That Chelsea win was massive and I believe we have a great chance of the title this year. An away point at Wigan with our second string playing hasn’t altered my view of what we’re capable of.

But then neither of us knows how it’s going to pan out until the end of the season, so let’s save the gloating until then.

Jeepers,
Our “A” Team may have scored two away from home, been denied a penalty, while conceding a con-job of a goal, and still only walk away with a point. Shit happens. Our “B” Team, on the other hand, scored two away from home, were denied a penalty, while conceding a con-job of a goal, and still walked away with a point! Shit happens.

Gut feeling every time Ghosty. Stats can be used to show just about anything. But I watch every minute of every Arsenal game and have done for many, many years and right now I feel that, without a doubt, we are stronger than last year.

Yes, there are still problems and some of them are ones that have dogged us for while (like set piece defending), but the Chelsea game showed what we can do with our best players fit.

Bringing up the 6 years issue opens up a whole other debate. It is one of the miracles of modern football management that Arsene kept us in the top four and CL every year while having no money to spend because of the new stadium build. Now we have come through those straitened times it’s time to step up and win something. I think AW is the man to make us do that.

Second string, because the team that played Chelsea would probably be many people’s first team. I’m not saying that we put out one of our old CC sides against Wigan – they were all experienced first teamers. But many are and have been second string choices (Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson, Eboue, Bendy).

I respect your post Rocky but by God, i disagree with so much of that i dont know where to start.

Chelsea have been dire, if there was any a time to play chelsea it was at home with our best team fit.

Doesnt take anything away from our performance it was a brilliant performance but the manager needs to manage the game when even the away crowd realize we are being pressed and need changes and are singing for Nasri to come on since the 50th minute while Arsene sits on his arse and does fuk all till the 85th.

So many examples of that sort of management/neglect, Wigan away last year, Birmingham away, Chelsea in the FA cup.

When you bring up yet again the lack of spending has feck all to do with tactics, management, substitutions, defending, lack of desire to shoot, lack of desire to press and certainly the complacency that we have when we play the lesser teams.

So the stadium debate is an complex variable that doesnt fit in the equation.

I wish you’d kept blogging with us when we were achieving good results and joined in the ‘love’ because it rather undermines your credibility if you just wait for a bad result and come on to tell us you were correct all along. Surely you must have enjoyed the chelski game and revelled in the result?

I know your conviction is deeply held but I am struggling to see where you get the enjoyment from supporting Arsenal. For me, it is exactly as portrayed in Fever Pitch – a mixture of deep joy and frequent exasperation…. most of us find following Arsenal a bi-polar experience, that is closer to an addiction than a catharsis.

I’m just surprised that you don’t want to discuss anything other than what you see as the negatives. Sure, I moan when there are things I don’t like, but I also praise the team and manager when we are good – and once in a while I have a laugh with other bloggers :lol: they’re not my enemies even if I disagree with their viewpoint.

Ghosty, you raised the stadium issue (indirectly) by saying: “…even after 6 years of more of the same…”

The implication is that we haven’t won anything for 6 years because of AW’s tactical naivety/stubbornness, team complacency etc. If you really don’t think the stadium costs had a massive impact on how AW went about building his squad (and on the lack on on-field success in recent years) then I’m amazed.

Raddy’s still a valued regular GF. He wrote the pre-match for the chav game but he’s gone away for a few days – please accept my earlier point, we’re not enemies, just fellow supporters with a different take on things.

Ghost – I couldn’t see a typo in your post only a contradiction. Its a lot clearer now, and admittedly I didnt search too hard for it.

I didn’t need to really, as the whole tone of your post was argumentative and confrontational, and that was the basis of my comment. I see now (and also remember) that that is your style. Its a style I really don’t like.

If you want to start collecting my typos I really do hope you have a lot of three thyme. I’m not akkused of having Typinsons without good reason.

Rasp said – “once in a while I have a laugh with other bloggers”. I know that line has been completely wasted on you, which is a shame as its something you’d really do well to take on.

There are issues with the squad that are serious and have been lingering un-addressed season after season. I dont mind if my points fall on deaf ears, i dont mind if im being called a bad penny and if what i say is considered bitching, but If i cant have a debate or argument about something or someone i disagree with then perhaps this really isnt the blog for me.

Ghosty, in my estimation the financial constraints of the new stadium ceased being an over-riding factor within the last year. They are still a factor, but much less restrictive now.

I know you will have heard these arguments before and that you probably reject them, but I genuinely think AW has been amassing some of the best young talent in world football and they are starting to gel into a top team. Many of our star players are still very young and are getting better all the time (Theo, JW, Ramsey, Gibbs, Song, Bendy). The irony is that, now that we do have money to spend, there is less need to spend it because AW’s strategy of building a team from youth level up is bearing fruit.

Btw, I think you should stay around and debate. Just because your view is different to the prevailing one here is not a reason to not air it.

Alright RDW….I saw a few comments about 6-0 but I took none of them seriously. If we’re 3-0 up inside 20mins then my mind turns ti thoughts of massacres.

Never ever have I expected or hoped Arsenal could rack up a large score before a ball has been kicked. I’ve played and watched football for too many years to fall in to that trap of disrespecting or underestimating opponents.

My last post before yesterdays game was about the danger that Insomnia, Roddallega and Cleverly could pose. I just can’t call Wigan’s results. Look how they started the season – back to back 0-6’s and then went to Shite Hart Lane and got a 1-0 win. Football’s a funny old game ‘eh

“There are issues with the squad that are serious and have been lingering un-addressed season after season. I dont mind if my points fall on deaf ears, i dont mind if im being called a bad penny and if what i say is considered bitching, but If i cant have a debate or argument about something or someone i disagree with then perhaps this really isnt the blog for me”

Having read your observations above, I am sure a brief resume of your management/coaching credentials posted here would help us understand the certainty and authority with which you approach Wengers supposed failings.

I’ve been out most of the day and frankly I have not taken the time to read the majority of today’s posts and Red Arse I do not intend to imply that I’m referring to all posters in my posts..

My feelings are really clear, euphoric highs and lows are what I feel during a game and I would never use those feelings to express my considered opinion at the conclusion of a game.
That does not mean that I’m devoid of feelings or emotions – it means that a PL games is one of 38 or only 2.6% of the season. From some of the posts that I read you would think that the season is either won or lost based on single result.

What is even worse is when keyboard punchers start to believe that they can out think or out manage AW – I ask ya??? what fing nonsense! He is one of the worlds top 10 coaches and we are blessed to have him as our manager and factual statistics tell us that he is the very best in our history.

In retrospect we played a lousy game against Wigan and even though they both scored goals Arshavin and Bendtner lack the desire to be complete team players. They do next to nothing off of the ball and just seem to wait around for an opportunity to have their moment of glory. Fabianski was out of position for the last goal and we had 2 red hot penalty calls denied while they had a dive given as a penalty.

Wow, we’ve had real backwards and forwards debate this afternoon – no point in having a blog if people don’t get the chance to air their views so I admire everyone for sticking to their points and not smacking each other in the gob ….. much!!!!!!!!!!! Seems even I came in for some criticism :lol:

I only had a short word on the ref in my post, but his input last night was absolutely massive, and he seemed hell bent on turning everything against us. In spite of that, it was still in our hands, and Fabianski has cost us dearly.

Where Arsene may have done a little better imho, is to have gone for a third whilst it was still 2-1. Get Theo or Nasri on for TLR or Bendtner or both. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of those two, and had more to write in the post, but was watching the word count.

I was at Wigan last night and after managing to get into the ground with 5 minutes to spare heard the news of the team, was kind of wishing at that point I hadn’t made the 6 hour trip from Norfolk.

The question of rotation is null and void if we had physically strong players. I see Chelsea fielded pretty much the same team as Monday.

We were devoid of anything going forward not helped by Arshavin sulking about playing with the second string and generally meandering around the left wing, and Bendtner playing right wing in a position he is at best unaccustomed to, at worst ill suited to. Yes they both scored but they were also awful for the majority of the other 89minutes and 59 seconds of the game. Like I say it is hard to criticise Bendtner for his perfomrance when he so clearly is not a right winger and also looks like he is carrying a bit of extra timber after the lay off.

Diaby’s “injury” was a blessing in disguise and Wilshere’s introduction led to our first positive movements of the game.

I can see why Wenger took him off as every time he got the ball he was confronted by 3 Wigan players chopping in at him, I don’t think Wilshere was not up to the task, but I think the Arsenal bench worry about his ability to deal with the kicks without retaliating, and god knows the last thing we need right now is to lose Wilshere.

Its time for a settled 11 (or at least 7-8 regular first choices), only replacing players when perhaps we are going to change formation or through injury or suspension that would also increase the competition for places amongst the squad. If the players know they will get a start soon because of rotation what incentive is there for the player to pull up trees when he comes off the bench.

As for Wengers decision not to change yes some are commenting with hindsight, but the Arsenal fans in attendance could all see Arshavin and Bendtner were doing nothing, and were screaming for changes after about 15 minutes of the second half. Wenger had Nasri ready to go on, and then the red card came and he sat Nasri down again…WHY?!?!?! Did he think the 10 men couldn’t beat us?

As much as Koscielny may not have touched the player he shouldn’t have let him get into the box, other teams will tackle outside of the box but as soon as the forward gets in to the box back off for fear of giving away a penalty, he is young but someone needs to get hold of him and tell him to stop allowing players to run at him for twenty yards, if he tackles them when they first get the ball he is twenty yards further away form our goal. Saying that I do like him, he hasn’t been bothered by the rough and tumble of the Premier League.

Fact remains we are still less likely to drop out of top 4 with current squad with Wenger in charge than anyone else.

We have no right to trophies they have to be earned and also in this day and age bought, Wenger has never been frightened of spending money if it was there to be spent he would as it was when he demanded we spend for Arshavin when we looked like slipping out of the top 4, no such bargaining chip this year to use with the board, so we have to hope they actually want to win a trophy rather than see Champions League cash come in every year to improve the value of their shareholdings when the lockdown is lifted.

You are very welcome and good on you for travelling all the way from Norfolk to support our boys.

Your view of the game seems very fair and balanced and has to carry more weight than any of us speculating from our streams. I could hear the fans calling for Nasri and Theo from early in the second half.

Like you, I am not seeking to use yesterday’s performance as a platform to attack Arsene, but equally I feel that he should have made subs earlier when it was apparent we were shaky particularly in light of his team selection and the quality players he had on the bench.

guess name calling was abit over the top..but then again how do you describe a very old man….who runs ‘His*club like a dictator…and without doubt are more than willing to see the financial side of a football club as far more imortant than the sport side…
and really one win over chelski in what the last ten…??…and against a chelski in a very poor form..??

opinions will always differ but i thought that most Gunners would say that winning is the essence in football…the chance of winning is what trigger players and supporters alike…

and in that respect wenger shows absolutely no respect himself….he has and still is gambling away Our chances of achieving anything at all…

me i truly do hate barca…still i hope they give us one h*** of a beating and then maybe then wenger will stop this tirade of bad excuses and take his hat and just leave…

no manager should be allowed to pcket that kind of money and not being responsible for the club results and i do NOT mean the financial results ;)..

lastly the wast majority og posts and comments in here are just great….and i know i shouldnt reside outside the Le Grove mate…but poor me just couldnt help it…

Have a smashing Happy New Year all Gunners and SharkeySure…and ho and behold have a Happy New YEar Wenger :)…gazidis im not that sure about…but i happily add Mr.Dein :

Thank you Gooner in Exile, we don’t get many comments from supporters who go to away games but we love the support the team gets from them. I felt let down that Arsene should just throw ‘the others’ into a team and then have players on the bench that could help out and not use them :(

Thanks for your comments and the spirit in which they have been expressed. As you’ve realised, not many of us will agree with your conclusions about AW, but we welcome your perspective on the debate. Happy New Year to you and all fellow LG followers ….. have faith :P

Anyway, down to 10 men they still managed to score. I don’t remember seeing/hearing any of the coaching staff up on their feet drilling a defensive strategy once that head butting goat was sent off. No they just sat on the pine with their fingers crossed hoping that the clock would tick over. No imagination for the particular period of the game.

gnarley: We will have to disagree about Arshavin all I see is a lazy little glory seeker and not a dedicated team player. AW can go blue in the face telling him to back track but instead he goes walk about!

My point is that when things go pearshaped results wise, people blame AA23 coz he is lazy. I take your point, he is a bit slack on the defensive side & he tends to dwell on his arse when stripped of the ball which is a pain, but there is no way he can be blamed everytime The Arsenal lose.

There is no way AA23 is as lazy as that injury prone RVP. At least AA23 gets out and scores. He has made the most assists in the PL this year & has scored heaps. he souldn’t be expected to do RVP’s assisting & scoring as well :)

Hey TomStoned, thanks for coming back in the right spirit, and now I can take on board everything you say, but still disagree with it…lol

Its just so happened to be a post of mine today, only my 4th in over a year of coming here I think, but over here you can Wenger in or out or even doing the hokey cokey, if you like, the regulars just don’t like to hear any of the Arsenal staff being slagged off or called shit.

We’re quite happy to hear that you think that Xyz does not put in the effort you expect, or that Arsene’s decisions infuriate you, but we just ask that no one emabarasses themselves with an inability to express their thoughts in an adult fashion. We do disagree over here, we just do it respectfully.

Lastly, apologies from me for lumping you in with the other fella who really went off on one, whereas you’ve now shown your true colours. Well played Sir.

I do vaguely remember you from the old days over at LG, you were one of the old timers !!

I have the moral high ground when it comes to Djourou, some people who shall remain nameless tried to shoot me down at the beginning of the season for trying to say that he will come good and his prem experience will hold him on good stead, the same people said he was rubbish in the pre-season and extremely injury prone, something I also don’t believe in, anyway where was I, ah yes having established that I think I have the right to point out that we haven’t won every game that he has started he was pants against Braga.

Personally I don’t mind the Le Grovers coming over here and slagging off Wenger, it always amuses me how shocked they are when they find that people disagree with them and they look around for Geoff’s apron to hide behind but he is not there to protect them……..hahahahahaha.

I think Arsh is a super super class talent to paraphrase you know who, but I also love the Ray Parlour’s and Gilles Grimandi’s of this world who you know will sweat blood from the first minute til the last. Can you honestly say that Arsh does that..??

I really can’t, but then again, I thought Thierry was lazy in all but his first two seasons with us, and I actually think of him as an underachiever. That’s soon to be a post of mine though, so I won’t debate it too much now.

Another post that I’ve offered Peaches is titled Wifebeaters and Doomers, peas in a pod..??’. She’s rejected that one five times at my last count !!

Yes you do stand by your convictions which is a good trait. And ou admire Big Johan too :)

There is nothing that would give me more pleasure than to see mon ami stick it up the Wenger knockers ( I don’t mean his boobs :oops: ) But he sometines needs guidance in his quest. & the Wigan slip up is one toime I am willing to help out with advice :P

Oh Sharkey, that old shestnut again. I love the fact that this day was a fairly odd one though. Gooner in Exile seems like a good bloke and its really good that Ghost Face and Tomstoned bring their views on here for debate – keeps you lot on your toes :D

Having given up a Clock End season ticket at Highbury 18 years ago to play senior Saturday football away games are pretty much the most cost effective way to see games.

Yesterday cost £100 for tickets and £50 for hotels for 4 of us. Went to the Grove earlier this year with my wife and tickets and train cost around £160 for 2 of us. That’s what I get for moving out of North London I suppose.

Thankfully the away games up North give Red members a chance to see the boys play live, have been to Blackburn, Everton already this year and off to Birmingham on NYD.

Yesterdays performance was the first time I’ve questioned AW decision making, other times I have understood the squad rotations, however now it is time the boys become men and like other teams play every game unless they’re crippled. If I was Nasri, Wilshere, Djourou, Theo or Song I think I would be livid to have been left out after my performance on Monday.

We’re not far away from being very good I hope those of us with faith (blind or otherwise) will be proven right soon.

GiE – you’re right, it is about time our players were mollycoddled a bit less and they should really be able to cope with number of games we’ve had lately(plus good to know we’ll see you here in future).

All the players said after the game on Monday that the Chelsea win would mean nothing without a follow up win at Wigan and that they were itching to build up some momentum.

Haven’t said that we do appear to have a number of injury prone players(maybe that’s only a perception)and perhaps Wenger was trying to avoid burn out.

Who knows – one would hope our medical people are on top of our injury problems at last; I hope I’m not tempting fate by saying that.

We can only look forward to the next game and show as much honest support as you (and all the away support) do.

Bleedin hell, just got in after a work trip and checked where the blog got to today, and you lot have gone mental!

Dandan, Ref Arse ,GN5 and London all talk a lot of sense. A disappointing result, but more to do with rubbish refereeing than poor performances. Judging with hindsight is very easy but two intense games in 48 hours with Brum away and City to come makes it a tough one.

As for Rasp’s suggestion that these dropped two points are more meaningful than those lost against West Brom and Spurs, no. If we lose the league by one point, there will already be multiple candidates for the “if only” debate and last night was probably the least of it. Just think back to that 93rd minute equaliser vs Sunderland for example.

Shit happens, there will be dropped points for all the challengers. Four points from six over Xmas looks ok, and if we win the next two games, 10 from 12 will look very good.

“We need to communicate much better,” he said, after Sébastien Squillaci’s own goal from a corner led to a 2-2 draw in a game that Arsenal had led 2-1 for most of the second half. “That’s something we need to rectify.

“Nobody is taking charge on the organisation side, there is no voice when the focus drops a little bit. You don’t feel that anybody takes charge on alertness and we need to communicate much better than that.”

The Arsenal manager was frustrated that his side did not hold on to their lead, although he admitted that he was satisfied with a four-point return from their two Christmas fixtures at home against Chelsea and away at Wigan.

“Yes I would have [taken four points from those games], but I’m maybe too hungry and always want six,” Wenger said. “We also have a difficult fixture list compared to the other teams, being twice on the road after the Chelsea game and have less recovery time than the other teams because we have one day less.”

Gnarley says:

“Then why not play the Big fella each week. look in the mirror mon ami, you played russian roulette with the squad & copped it”.